By H.H. Mohrmen
The general elections to the state Assembly are only fourteen months away and the major political parties are still daydreaming about the bye-elections. They are dusting their clothes after the tough campaign for the bye-elections to the three assembly seats in the state. By the time this article appears in this paper, voting for the bye-election in the three constituencies would have been over. While the contesting parties and the voters are eagerly waiting for the results (Indian- Political Action Committee) IPAC has landed in the state and its researchers have made an extensive tour of Meghalaya.
Are the political parties prepared for the ensuing election?
IPAC is certainly not sending the best of brains to the State for sight-seeing and those people they have interviewed, know that the organisation is seriously trying to understand the politics of Meghalaya and at least the factors which influence elections in the State. Only the individuals with whom the researchers of the Organisation have interacted would know how comprehensive the survey is. The question that the parties in the state need to ask themselves is whether they have even begun preparing for the 2023 elections? Are they planning to do a survey or conduct a study of their own to understand the mood and the aspirations of the voters in the state?
Present state of affairs in Meghalaya
For the voters of Meghalaya, from now at least till the next elections, it is a time for introspection and time to ask ourselves if everything is alright in the State. This introspection is more important because post January 2023, the state is entering its post golden jubilee journey, having completed fifty years of its existence.
In the education sector, Meghalaya which used to boast of being the education hub of the region but now is witnessing this glory slipping out of its hands. It is now being replaced by Guwahati which is strategically located and also positions itself as the gateway to the North East. Shillong has lost its crown and will never be able to beat Guwahati in the race anymore. The entire education system in the state is in shambles. Lower Primary education which was initially administered by the Autonomous District Councils had to be taken over by the State Government because of the mismanagement by the Councils. Has the state government done any better in managing the LP schools? The answer is there for everyone to see. Had it not been for the centrally sponsored SSA schools, the State Government would not have been able to set up new schools in areas where there are no schools.
At the Upper Primary level too, had it not been for the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), there would not have been new Upper Primary schools. The state government on its own has not been able to start or upgrade any LP school to an Upper Primary school for many years now. New UP schools in the different areas were started with the support of SSA only. And now the government is not able to regularly pay the SSA teachers their salaries. At the Secondary level too, all the new schools were started under Rashtriya Madhyanik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) which is again a central scheme. Most of the higher secondary schools were upgraded without the support of the government which again makes this level of education expensive as the schools will have no other option but to charge school fees to pay the teachers.
Education is gradually going to the private entities and in the process providing education to a child is going to be an expensive proposition. In a situation like that the poorer section of the population are going to be affected and they will be denied their right to education just because they cannot afford it. The other area of concern in the state is that education is being taken over by private entities and the enrolment in private schools and colleges is growing in numbers and strength.
Health is for the wealthy only
On the health front too, Meghalaya is performing poorly particularly in the rural areas. It may look as if the state has the required buildings to run the health care facilities, but are there enough doctors at the Sub Centres, PHCs or even at the CHCs? Do the healthcare centres particularly those in the rural areas have the required manpower to run them? Do they even have a working X-ray machine? Similar to what happened with regards to education, the situation is no different in the health sector. Had it not been for private agencies including church run hospitals, people of Meghalaya would have been denied any health care services that they need. Private hospitals also provide good services, but at a cost and again it is the poorer section of the population that are going to be affected. Ultimately health care or quality health care is going to be for those who can afford the service only.
Why is the state not performing well in education and is not even able to provide proper medical care to its citizens, especially those who live in the rural areas? That is the question that the public have to introspect on. Have we done any better on the agriculture front? The major concern is that as time goes by agricultural land is being converted to residential areas or other activities which include mining.
See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil
Corruption is rampant especially in this MDA government regime. Police on the NH unashamedly put up barricades at different locations just to collect money from the trucks. In a way VH Pala is not wrong when he said that the trucks have become like the ATMs for the police, otherwise what is the need of having police check posts at Pynsum Kule close to Ummulong when the Ummulong outpost is not even a kilometre away from the temporary post? Similarly, what is the need of having a police checkpoint at the junction of the Shillong bypass in Mawryngkneng? This column has more than once pointed to the existence of many such police barricades on the entire stretch of the highway from Guwahati to Silchar, yet this government is playing the game of the three monkeys – See no evil; Hear no evil and Speak no evil game.
Lesson from the bye-election
If campaigns to the bye-elections are to be taken as the shape of things to come in 2023, then the number one lesson learned is that the bar has dropped much lower. The recent bye-elections were not issue –based. Even the debates were not up to the mark. The debates are not only below par but they have become personal, below the belt attacks against each other. One MLA has even boasted that in spite of him not being able to pass class 12 after 3 attempts, yet he won the elections. What message did the legislator want to send? Can the particular MLA be a role model for the youths in the state? From what had happened during the bye-election campaign it is obvious that the parties don’t even have a sense of direction or they are yet to decide what they want to do and where they want to go. In such a situation what change can the people of Meghalaya expect in 2023? The ultimate question that the people need to ask themselves is: “Is the state moving in the right direction?”
The 2023 election is going to be a crucial election for the state. Meghalaya after 2023 is going to be half a century older and the political parties are not even prepared for that crucial phase. The Chief Minister had during his recent visit to Itanagar, belted the famous song, “Summer of 69 (the video of which went viral) but what will happen in the winter of 2023, will be interesting to watch. It will decide the future of the State of Meghalaya for the next fifty years.
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